Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 40: Seo Ok-rang (4)
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“Is that really so surprising?”
“...How did you know?”
“Simple. I was reviewing the instructor logs and something felt off.”
“......”
“Cases where someone suddenly changes aren't all that common.”
Especially at the Divine Martial Academy—the possibilities narrow even further.
“For example, suffering a major shock.”
“......”
From the situation, Seo Ok-rang must have been the one doing the seducing.
Precisely, it wouldn't have been sticky seduction or secret trysts.
Instructor Ja-gyeom wasn't the sloppy type to neglect his students carelessly.
“It was probably just a half-joking remark or casual contact that led to a misunderstanding.”
“...You're right.”
“Well, anyone can see that from how boldly she jokingly confessed to me.”
“......”
“On the other hand, your side is harder to read.”
Il-pyo was the cautious type in everything.
It was impossible to fathom why he'd hang around with someone as immature and whiny as Seo Ok-rang.
'I wondered if he had ulterior motives.'
But when she threw tantrums, he clearly showed irritation, so that couldn't be it.
The most decisive clue was this.
“The strangest part is the person who spread the rumor that the guy seduced her first.”
“......”
“That was you.”
Why was he defending Seo Ok-rang so devotedly, even prepared to face expulsion?
Finally, Il-pyo spoke up.
“...How did you figure it out?”
“I have my ways.”
Even without that.
“Even a fool could tell from the pity, guilt, and regret leaking out of you.”
“I thought I'd hidden it well.”
“Hmph. You think a kid like you can hide from an adult's eyes?”
Chu Un-hwi propped his chin on his hand and gestured with his jaw.
“Don't worry. I'm a lunatic blockhead just like the rumors say. Dumb as a rock, too.”
He'd forget it the moment you explained.
At those added words, Il-pyo's expression relaxed.
“Well, it doesn't matter if you don't forget.”
Now he wanted to get it all off his chest.
Muttering to himself, Il-pyo stared into the distance and moved his lips.
“...Where should I start?”
“From the beginning. All of it.”
“...It all began two years ago, during our excursion to the martial world.”
In a low voice, Il-pyo dredged up his memories.
***
The two first met two years ago.
When they each entered Silver Hall.
“We only knew each other by face for a while. Back then, the separation between male and female students was strict.”
“Go on.”
Their paths crossed during that year's martial world excursion, he said.
“Our squad's mission was nothing difficult.”
It was just wiping out a small bandit den near Geumhwa County.
The supervising instructor was capable, and the squad members weren't bad, so they wrapped it up quickly.
“The problem came on the way back. We'd just relaxed a bit when we ran into the rapist another squad was chasing.”
“Rapist?”
“I heard he'd assaulted several women from common households.”
Rape and murder.
He was one of the worst kind among rapists.
The rest unfolded about as expected.
“I was separated and caught off guard by a sudden attack.”
“I held my own for thirty exchanges, but I couldn't win.”
Lechery Arts.
The righteous sects dismissed it as vile sorcery, but it was clearly a technique that absorbed women's essence to cultivate inner power.
No matter how low the rapist's attainment was, it was too much for novice students fresh to the martial world.
“He was a considerable expert. His skills were superior, and freezing up in sudden combat was my downfall too.”
Facing death after defeat, that's when his savior appeared.
“That's when Seo Ok-rang saved me.”
“Oho. Dramatic.”
Il-pyo's face twisted.
“As I barely escaped with my life, Seo Ok-rang said to me.”
- Young hero Il! Fight together!
She said they could win if they fought as one.
But he...
Seeing Il-pyo unable to continue, Chu Un-hwi asked.
“You ran?”
“......”
“You ran. You little punk.”
“...Yes.”
In his relief at surviving, he'd turned tail and fled blindly.
“When I came to my senses and went back, Instructor Moyong had arrived.”
Thanks to that, the worst was avoided.
“I heard later that the left-behind Seo Ok-rang put up quite a fierce fight.”
“...Well, a fierce fight with a rapist is predictable.”
It was Lechery Arts that gained power by absorbing a woman's essence.
“She probably wasn't spared humiliation by luck—it was intentional.”
He must have weakened her and dragged her off to use as a sacrifice for his Lechery Arts.
Unlike men, a woman's body was like a supreme elixir to a Lechery Arts cultivator.
Especially one deeply trained in pure righteous sect techniques.
“It wasn't luck—it was deliberate, toying with her mind over a long time to break her spirit completely.”
“...I heard about it later too.”
Now he understood why Instructor Moyong Seon-ya pitied Seo Ok-rang so much in her evaluations.
- She was quite clever and capable. Such a shame.
'No wonder a senior instructor was so indulgent.'
Because of this backstory?
Anyway, now he understood Il-pyo's behavior.
“So you hung around out of guilt?”
“Better late than never—I wanted to help her now.”
“Too late, idiot.”
“...I'm aware.”
Now all the pieces fit.
Tap tap.
But there was still something that didn't add up.
As Chu Un-hwi eyed him suspiciously, Il-pyo hesitantly revealed the final piece.
“A-Actually, there's another reason.”
“What?”
“Well... Being around her so much, I started to like her, and the more I saw, the more I was drawn to her.”
“Ugh!”
Smack!
“Ugh!”
Il-pyo groaned, clutching his shin kicked under the table.
“Stop eavesdropping and come out.”
Without looking back, his shout made Il-pyo glance at the door.
“Seo Ok-rang!”
Seeing her fidgeting with her index finger pressed to her lips, he paled.
“Nice going! You little brats!!!”
“Th-that's... Seo Ok-rang.”
“Why→ are you↗ all↗ alone→ while↘ I'm↘ here.”
Internal Affairs Division, where are you!
Filthy adulterers here!
Arrest them and deliver heavenly punishment!
Pounding the table with a roar, Il-pyo frantically covered her mouth.
“H-Heavenly punishment is too much, isn't it?”
“Not at all.”
Considering the pain in his heart.
Fortunately, Chu Un-hwi's mood soon lifted.
Seo Ok-rang approached with quick steps and apologized to Il-pyo.
“Sorry, Young Hero Il.”
I'm into older guys.
“Ah...”
“Serves you right.”
That felt refreshing.
The ways of the martial world were restored.
Seeing Il-pyo bury his face in the table, Chu Un-hwi snickered.
“Look at you. Justice served.”
“You're too much.”
“The one who created this lovey-dovey vibe in front of a marriage-age elder is you.”
Time to wrap this up.
“Hey. To be honest, I don't know what you felt.”
Maybe betrayal.
Maybe despair.
Being toyed with by a rapist would leave deep scars as both a martial artist and a woman.
Still, he didn't truly know.
'When have I ever felt fear?'
But there was one thing he wanted to say.
“I don't know where your heart got twisted, but filling the void with pointless antics isn't wise.”
Your pockets and heart will empty fast.
“If you want attention, go for it. Raising your reputation isn't bad either.”
But hanging your hopes solely on external things is foolish.
“External things?”
“Reputation and wealth are external.”
Neglect them, and they slip away.
“Isn't anything not in my head or on my body external?”
Let your mind wander for a moment, and it'll vanish.
For example.
“My headbutt was faster than your sword.”
“Headbutts are cheating.”
“Admit defeat to external things.”
Giggle.
Realizing she was laughing, Seo Ok-rang suddenly felt strangely at ease.
'What an oddly comfortable person.'
Anyone else would have yelled at her to shut up the moment this topic came up.
But now, there was no resentment.
Was that why?
Her long-hidden true feelings spilled out.
“Honestly, I'm not even sure anymore.”
“About what?”
“My real emotions.”
“If a kid like you knew their own heart fully, we'd call you a monster or demon.”
“That's not what I mean.”
Seo Ok-rang smiled faintly.
“I mean, I don't know if my change really stems from that incident.”
Seo Ok-rang smiled faintly.
“Actually, right after it happened, I was truly fine.”
The wounds from the rapist healed quickly.
She returned to training strong as ever.
“Then what's the problem?”
“But others didn't see it that way.”
Everyone she met looked at her pitifully.
“You don't have to pretend to be strong.”
“I know how painful it must have been. Talk if it's hard.”
“Don't push yourself.”
Hearing that over and over, she started doubting if she was truly okay.
“People sure talk easily about others' pain.”
“The hardest part was...”
Tears rolled down her cheek.
“Later, rumors spread that I'd been defiled.”
Sob.
Her large eyes welled up with moisture.
Covering her face with both hands, Seo Ok-rang burst into sobs.
“I was really fine.”
“But everyone said it, so I felt like I was the weird one.”
“I wanted to show I was okay.”
“But it never worked.”
Lowering her hands, Seo Ok-rang still shed shimmering tears.
“When I first snapped out of it, I thought I'd become like the Sword Empress.”
Dive into training, avenge the humiliation.
Become someone who makes scum like that rapist tremble in fear.
The greatest among women.
A fair executor of justice.
“But at some point, everyone kept bringing up the past, and I couldn't escape it.”
They all said I was hurt.
“Everyone started looking at me with pitying eyes.”
At some point, she began doubting if she really was okay.
“I was fine. I wanted to be like the Sword Empress.”
At some point, she lost her way.
Her heart wandered aimlessly in the fog.
“I wanted to live like the protagonist of the world.”
Not swayed by others.
Pushing my convictions to the end.
Live like the center of the world.
“Ugh. Sob.”
Watching the fresh tears, Chu Un-hwi shook his head gravely.
“...Impossible.”
She froze.
Sadness clouded Seo Ok-rang's teary eyes.
“...So now I can never live like the Sword Empress?”
With a broken heart.
Chasing delusions and rampaging—perhaps it was inevitable.
“No, not that.”
Chu Un-hwi stated firmly.
“I mean becoming the world's protagonist.”
“Huh?”
“Your dream's too big.”
Springing up, Chu Un-hwi pointed at himself and bellowed.
“Idiot! The protagonist of the world is this body right here!”
You're all just side characters.
“Just world's extras!”
Listening silently to the calm declaration, Il-pyo suddenly shot up and shouted.
“Instructor! That's too harsh!”
“What? You passing extra punk.”
This world revolves around me!
Got it? You don't!
“You're just side characters in my life! Like the peasant soldiers in Romance of the Three Kingdoms who scream 'Argh!' and die.”
“What's a peasant soldier?!”
Seeing them tussle, Seo Ok-rang let out a light laugh.
“Hahaha. Hohoho.”
Only after she clutched her belly laughing did the two, gripping each other's collars, let go.
“Tch. Laughing after crying— they'll say you grow hair on your butt.”
“Haven't you heard that's no way to speak to a lady?”
“Why do women talk so much after crying?”
Grumbling, Chu Un-hwi dusted off his butt and stood.
“Let's get up.”
“Where to in the middle of the night?”
To Il-pyo's question, Chu Un-hwi replied as if it were obvious.
“When you're feeling shitty, you go vent.”
I know a great spot.
Seo Ok-rang's head tilted slightly.